Chapter 35: Bad terms

Jack woke up in his room, he wondered how many hours he slept, it couldn't be too much, bright sunlight was still pouring into the room.

After standing up, he stretched at the side of the bed and looked down towards the floor, pieces of the broken recorder were lying there. He crouched next to the remains and tried to determine what was salvageable. A big chunk of glass from the screen was intact, he took it (you never know when you'll need it). He also took the batteries 'they may be usefull sometime' he thought.

There wasn't much else he could do about the rest, so he just threw it all under the bed and put the glass and the batteries into one of the smaller pockets of his backpack.

The young boy opened the door expecting to hear either Joel or Ellie's voices coming from the living room or the kitchen, but the house was still silent.

Trying not to make too much noise, he walked towards the door at the end of the hallway (which was connected to the living room) and opened it. The room was extremely silent. Ellie was still lying on the couch, her face facing the cushioned wall where you'd normally rest your back. Jack aproached her with extreme care and lowered his head next to her's, only then he was able to hear her inhaling and exhaling at a rhythmic pace, definitely asleep. Better not to bother her.

Slowly, he approached the door that connected the living room with the kitchen and got into the next room. The note for Joel and the little green soldier were still on the counter (Joel was still outside somewhere, then).

Jack sat down at the counter and grabbed the little plastic figure, dedicating the next few moments to figuring out what it meant. Of course, he would not know for sure until Joel get there.

He wasn't hungry yet, so he didn't bother having lunch. Instead he just rested his head on the closed fist of his healthy hand, thinking about nothing in particular, killing time.

An almost inaudible grunt coming from the living room reached him, hopefully Ellie was waking up.

He peeked into the living room, still procuring to be as silent as possible. Ellie was rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"Joel?"

"No" Jack walked into the living room "Just me... Joel's not back yet"

She grunted once again "He said anything before leaving this morning? It's getting late"

"No" Joel seemed angry that morning, or at least annoyed. The recorder really upset him. "Hey. Want something to eat?"

"Not now" at least she didn't seem worried "I rather wait until he comes back"

Joel would be nothing more than problems once he come back, specially after telling him what Tommy said.

Joel told Ellie to stay away from the watchtower. But now she decided to listen to Tommy and help. Knowing Joel, he would use that as an excuse to get angry at him. It happened before, somehow all the blame for any problem belongs to him. From 'who forgot to close the fridge? (Ellie)' to 'who broke the light bulb? (Ellie did)'. Somehow he always concluded the same: Jack's to blame. But this was a much serious matter, who knows how he'd react?

"Move" he said, Ellie gave him some space so he could sit down on the couch.

"I know why you're worried" Ellie said next to him "you know Joel's gonna blame you for this" Jack's silence confirmed it "He turned into a little bit of a control freak when we first arrived this place last year. He gets seriously upset when things don't go his way. Just know it's not personal, he just directs his anger towards the 'new guy' "

"How are you planning to break the news of tonight's shift?"

"We'll see about that later"

"There's no later..."

"Jack, please... you're too neurotic lately"

That made him loose his grip a little bit "why you think it is?"

"I know... we're all stressed, but this place has seen situations like these before"

"People are dead, Ellie"

"And you can't do anything about it, so try to calm down"

"It must be so easy for you..."

"Yeah, you're right" she said with an obvious sarcastic tone "so fucking easy"

Jack was angry now, she seemed to just ignore the problem. Maybe it was just her way of dealing with it. Either way, it was annoying "how can you stay calm in a moment like this. A fucking stranger broke into this very house last night! I mean... aren't you just a little bit afraid?"

"I am... some people are not as vocal as you"

He tried to see this from her perspective, she wasn't involved with Ryan in any way and she was never open about her feelings. She was reserved, not only with him, but also with Joel. She was not the kind of people that lose their shit on the first sight of trouble... not like him. The thought made him feel worse. "Sorry"

"Don't worry. Know that I wouldn't like to be in your place"

"Still"

"Let's just leave it there... please" she sounded somewhat tired of the conversation.

They fell into a tense silence. None of them even tried to start a new conversation. But suddently a low deep growling sound echoed across the room.

"Hungry?" He was amused by what he just heard.

"That was actually a little bit embarrassing" she said trying (and failing) to keep a serious tone.

"You'll still wait for him?"

"I've endured worse things than a noisy stomach"

"Willingly?"

She took a few moments to figure out what to do "You're right, I'm starving"

"Wait a sec, then" he stood up, but before he could make another move, a 'click' coming from the front door called for their attention.

When the two teenegers turned their heads, Joel was already closing the door behind him. Fortunately, he seemed calm.

"What took you so long?" Ellie was relieved.

"Don't worry about that, I'm here now. And I'm hungry" he sat down next to her, staring at the boy, both silently agreeing not to mention any of what happened that morning.

"I'll look for something" Jack said trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"Fine"

The three of them finished up what was left of a can of beans and the 'leftovers plate'. For some reason, the atmosphere was tense, the only noise being the constant chewing. No one was breaking the silence. And the worst thing was that Joel kept acting calm, apparently oblivious to their struggle.

"Any of you is hiding something?" Joel finally asked once they were done with the food.

'Dammit' was Jack's first thought. He opened his mouth to talk, but Ellie beat him to it.

"Actually, it's about something Tommy said this morning" she started, being careful with her words.

"Yes..."

"He asked me once again to be Ron's replacement at the watchtower... I said yes"

Now Joel's calmness was slowly starting to fade away "We discussed this yesterday, he'll look for someone else for now"

"There's no one else..." Jack said before Joel hit the arm of the couch, standing up.

"Shut up!" Joel turned from calm to angry in just two words.

"Joel..." Ellie was trying to calm him down "C'mon, you're not like this"

"We discussed this yesterday... what did he tell you to make you forget it?"

"Blaming me again!"

"I swear, Jack... shut up!"

"No, no, no... she can choose for herself, you know"

"I'm not letting her do something stupid just because"

"It's not just because, Joel" Ellie was getting upset at how everything turned out "you know Tommy need all the help he can get right now"

"I said no" Joel's stubborness was what angered Jack the most.

"You really think your saying matters, don't you?" The volume of the conversation was raising with every sentence. Soon they'd be yelling at each other.

"Yes!"

"Jack, please leave me..." Ellie also stood up was the only one at this point not showing clear signs of anger.

"Well, it doesn't!" Even Jack was starting to realize things were escalating too quickly.

"Why!?"

"Jack, that's enough" Ellie raise her voice, but her efforts were useless.

"Because she's not your fucking daughter, you asshole!" Just a second of silence was enough for him to realize he may have crossed some sort of line.

"Leave..."

"You think you can just end this by..."

"I don't think you understood what I meant; I want you to go to your room, grab your stuff, and leave this house, right now"

Jack didn't believe he really mean it "you can't just..."

"I just did"

Jack could only respond with a nervous laugh "no no no no... you brought me here, I'm your responsibility"

"I don't care"

"Ellie?"

She was as shocked as him, her face express ed what she was feeling 'I can't do anything for you now'.

"Leave..." Joel got closer, effectively intimidating him.

There was nothing else he could do, just going back to his room and coming back a few seconds later holding his backpack. Joel opened the door for him. Slowly he walked past him, ending up on the porch "Joel, just think about..." The old man slammed the door shut. The loud 'bang' was soon followed by the sound of the locks.

He was outside now, there was nowhere to go. The only sound he could hear in the desertic street was his own heavy breathing.

What now?